Mission In The Country Of Mistakes
by WhitmansLearner
Summary: Kakashi and Iruka, on the evening of the autumnal festival in Konohagakure, are given a scouting mission in the forests. Will Iruka's mistakes lessen Kakashi's love for him? Or will they make it even greater? Kakashi x Iruka. Mature.


"Mission In The County of Mistakes"

A Kakashi x Iruka romance in 10 chapters.

Author: WhitmansLearner

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of one Masashi Kishimoto. I am simply borrowing them. Also, some of the selections are based (loosely) off a picture I once saw! (Can you find it? ) Also note that Iruka's birthday is (really) not September 6th. That is merely my poetic license. His real birthday is May 26th. Also, I am using Kakashi's actual birthday in this, September 15th, in a later chapter.

Other notes:

Kumogakure -- Hidden Village of Cloud

Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu -- Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique

Suiton: Suijinheki -- Water Release: Water Wall

Chapter First:

The moon played on Iruka's forehead, waltzing along his rough cheeks, silvery, dropping and curving within the scar streaked across his face. The fireworks were beginning: large spider webs of green, red, purple, and blue. The smoke from each explosion swept down the sky, lingering like limbs of some great monster. The grass underneath Iruka's back flowed like water, waving and glistening. It was September 6th; the day Iruka was born in Konohagakure twenty-five years ago, his birthday. The village was having its annual autumnal celebration. Baskets of bread rolls were brought out from the steamy bakeries, face-painted and masked performers and spectators gathered at the far end of the main road, and Iruka, in a celebratory satin-blue kimono, lay his head back on a knoll just beyond the square where the fireworks shot off, watching them mingle with the stars.

_They really went all out this time_, he thought, staring off into the colored black veil of the sky. And they truly did. Every moment was filled with dazzling copper and violet bursts, and in the distance, dance and song were apparent in roaming, muffled sounds.

Iruka got up from the grass and checked his watch. _8pm_. _I'm supposed to meet Kakashi in the square! I'm gonna be late!_

He started at a quick trot down the hill, coming out onto the byroad, then passing the country houses. Strings and banners hung from each one of them, connecting in a wiry kind of way. The sounds of the party were getting louder now: cheering, whistling, and shouting. He made his way into the square, squeezing through the crowd and looking around for Kakashi. There was no sight of him anywhere.

_I'll just wait here. He'll probably be late anyways._ And so he waited, watching his students playing with glittering firecrackers and candles.

"Hey, Konohamaru!" he noticed his old student sitting on a bench, spinning a sparkler lazily in one hand. The light from the sparkler being spun in quick circles assumed a ring-like shape of blurry whitish blue. Konohamaru looked up from where he was sitting and smiled.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei! Enjoying the parties?!" he said brightly. He looked the same, only taller. His grin was still stupid in a splendid little way, and the scarf he wore since he was little still sat on his neck.

"Hai, hai," Iruka said. "Have you seen Kakashi-sensei around?"

"Hmm…" Konohamaru looked around him, scratching his chin softly. "I think… but that was a while ago."

"I see…" Iruka replied, straightening up. He looked southerly to where he came to the square from, searching the sky and the tops of buildings for shadows or movement. Kakashi was always very discreet, though.

"I'll see you later, Iruka-sensei! I'm gonna go watch the fireworks more." Konohamaru turned and left, playing with the ground with his feet.

"Good… bye!" Iruka shouted after him, looking confused. _Where are you, Kakashi?!_

Half an hour passed. More villagers congested the square now, mingling and eating; and Iruka leaned there, looking somber, and a bit tired, against a light pole. _I wonder what Kakashi has to talk to me about? Could it be a mission? Or a new teaching assignment? Hmm… he sure is late, though. But I guess that's just his personality. I kind of… like that about him. His cool indifference… I sometimes wish I could be like that. Mysterious… with that covered face… I wonder what he looks like under there?_

"Hey there," Kakashi's voice hummed in Iruka's ear.

"Woah!!!!" Iruka leapt back in terror. Kakashi hung, upside down, from the veranda of the building nearby, his covered face showing only a gently upturned eye, a sign of amiability. "Too close, Kakashi-sensei! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Kakashi jumped down casually from where he hung with ease. "At your age? Nah… nah… and I wish you wouldn't call me sensei… it makes me seem like a geezer. Huh? You seemed pretty deep in thought. What're you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Iruka said, waving his arm as if sweeping the topic away. "Anyways, even though you're late… what did you want to talk about, Kakashi-sens… I mean, Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi stared at Iruka for a few moments without saying anything. The beams from the fireworks hit his uncovered eye and it glared smartly.

"Goidame-sama wants I and another Chuunin to scout an area around the village, to ensure that no intruders will attack while the festivities are going on. She asked me to choose someone, and I chose you."

"What? Why!?" Iruka was shocked. More shocked than when Kakashi suddenly appeared in front of his face not even a minute ago. Kakashi stepped forward out of the dim shadows and began to walk along the path that led outside of the village. Iruka followed him, as any obedient tutelage would.

"Because you're reliable," Kakashi uttered from the corner of his lips as they strolled. "And we make a good team, dontcha think?" The same slight smile came over his face, highlighting his smooth cheeks and his rough but thick lips.

"Yea, I mean… I guess." Iruka was unsure about the situation. On one hand, he had always sort of looked up to Kakashi as an upperclassman; but there was another feeling of comfort he had (admittedly) when he found himself around Kakashi: a dense feeling of safety that scared Iruka from time to time.

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September wind howled from the canvas of the Konohagakure landscape. Kakashi and Iruka were alreadyhopping among the trees, glancing around for enemies of any kind. But it was quiet in the forests, save for the breeze throughout the crisp leaves, and the sounds of creatures digging holes or waking from a sleep with tinctured rustlings.

_Kakashi is very calm tonight_, Iruka thought. _The way he moves… without fear! Again I feel that safety I've always felt around him… the fact that with him here, I'll come to no harm. Do I… am I… attracted to Kakashi-sensei? And it's not just his presence… it's his appearance as well… his lean torso, his tufted hair, that sweet place just below his lower back where his ass starts to curve… I like all of those things. I can't help it… Ugh! _Iruka closed his eyes, attempting to hold back the prying tears.

"See anything from back there?" Kakashi suddenly turned.

"Uh, no!" Iruka blushed a bit. Kakashi looked at him again in that fierce way, then turned his attention to the front once more. _Did he notice I was looking at him? Oh no… what if he thinks I'm a pervert! I can't bear Kakashi thinking like that! About me… maybe I should talk to him about this… No! Wouldn't he get freaked out! Oh God, there's no way out of this without making mistakes!_

"Hey," Kakashi stopped suddenly. Iruka slammed down on the earth just next to him, his face soberly questioning Kakashi's motivations for stopping, yet still ruminating on his thoughts. "I smell something."

Kakashi motioned for Iruka to cover the left side. Iruka took out a kunai and stepped over some moss and grass heaps into the bushes on the left. Nothing. He peered behind the trees and looked up into the canopies. Nothing. His sense of smell wasn't very acute (at least, nowhere near as acute as Kakashi's), but he thought it was good enough to detect a close by enemy… perhaps.

"Argh!" Iruka's ears pricked. _A scream! Kakashi!_

Iruka bolted from the leaves to where they had landed before, searching around for any sign of Kakashi, or anyone else. There was no sign. _Oh no! Could the enemy have subdued Kakashi, and fled? No… that's not possible… Kakashi's level is too high. He must still be around here! I must find him!_ Iruka raced throughout the clearings, attentive to even a butterfly taking to flight.

"There!" he spotted Kakashi's head finally, a jumble of grey. _He's tied up! How? What enemy could have set a trap for the great Copy Ninja? What could I even do?! No… I've got to calm down and assess the situation. I'm a ninja as well! So, Iruka, just calm down… what is the situation? Kakashi is tied up. There seems to be two enemies, from what I can tell. There's a trap on Kakashi's left arm… an exploding tag… this is going to be tricky. I have to let him loose without exploding that tag, and deal with the enemies at the same time! Think, Iruka… think quickly!_

"I've got it!" Iruka whispered to himself, surprised by the revelation.

"Hey, hey, hey! Wasn't there another one?" one of the enemy ninja said. He was a large man with greasy brown hair. He didn't have a headband. Neither did the one he spoke to, a thin man with blonde hair who looked almost like a woman, save for his masculine jaw and his rough, pained eyes.

"Doesn't matter, we got the one we were sent here for. If the other one comes, we'll just deal with him."

"Heh-heh! Good idea! Hear that, Copy Ninja Kakashi? You are now the property of the Kumogakure! You should be proud. We'll get top dollar for you."

"You're shinobi?" Kakashi grunted from his restraints. "I don't see any headbands. Well, that just goes to show you the low quality of shinobi in the Country of Thunder."

"What? Why you…!"

"Stop, stop! Don't let him get to you. He can't do anything but insult you with his little tongue from where he is. Soon he'll be dead anyways. If he really wants to know why we don't wear our headbands, well… I suppose we have time to get into that. Headbands are nothing. A true ninja doesn't need such things… they're just hassles. We don't pay allegiance to anyone in your kind of way; you foolish Leaf ninja! Maybe we should just kill you right now…" He inched closer to Kakashi's neck with his kunai, the blade sharp and cold.

"I don't think so!" Iruka jumped out from behind the tree he was crouched behind, kicking the larger man right behind his knees. The man fell, amazed at the speed of the attack, hitting his face on a rock and passing out.

_One down!_ Iruka thought, throwing a kunai at a piece of twang he wrapped around the area, and flipping up to the tree Kakashi was tied on. The thin, blonde man, in the middle of leaping back to avoid Iruka's attack, landed on the ground and kicked off, forming a hand seal in mid-air.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" A medium-sized stream of fire protruded from the enemy's mouth, spreading across the leaves and gaining on Iruka.

"Suiton: Suijinheki!" A thin wall of water shot up from Iruka's feet, dowsing the fire, which fizzled out and left traces of steam around the clearing.

The twang hit by the kunai shook the canopy of a nearby tree, letting fall a large bundle of logs from above. The blonde ninja, distracted by the defeat of his fire attack, was hit by one of the logs, and his left arm was damaged.

"Argh! Take this, then!" he shouted, throwing a series of kunais toward Iruka, who was now untying Kakashi one thread at a time. _I can't dodge or else Kakashi will be hit!_

"Ugh!" The kunais hit Iruka's back with three light thuds. _Fwwt, fwwt, fwwt._ The enemy grinned, holding his left arm, which was in great pain now.

_Poof._

"What! A replacement technique! Then where…?" The ninja looked around him for his enemy. "He's above!" Iruka dropped down rapidly from above, but the enemy was too quick. Iruka took out a kunai and began a long series of interchange with his enemy, with neither of them showing any signs of giving up or slowing down.

Then his enemy stopped. He brought his hand up to his chest and formed a seal with two fingers.

"Put down your weapon, or I'll blow your teammate to bits!" Iruka frowned, sweating and gasping. He had lost the advantage of surprise; his faults as a ninja were beginning to show clearly. He had been out-smarted. _Clang._ His kunai hit a rock and skipped over into the grass where the large man lay unconscious.

"It's a shame you're so worried about his safety… you could have gotten me good if you didn't care about his life… that just shows your weakness!" _Kakashi… what do you think of me? Am I that crude? I'm that unable? I cannot look like this in front of you! How can I love you then…?!_

"Shut up!" Iruka shouted, pulling on a string he had attached to a bush just underneath the enemy's feet. It tripped him up successfully, giving Iruka a few moments to pull of the tag from Kakashi's arm. _I've got to hurry! I can't make a mistake! This is Kakashi!_ In those moments all of his movements seemed slowed-down, as he lunged toward Kakashi, as he wrapped his arms around his arm to tear the tag off, and as it exploded, burning Iruka's cheek and tearing into Kakashi's arm.

-End of Chapter First-

Well, that's the first chapter! 9 more to go! (I may even make it more than 10, but we'll see).

Yours truly, Daniel


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